A few months ago as I wandered through my parents’ house, the same house I grew up in, I had a sudden, scary realization. When my parents bought the house, in 1982, they were only two years older than I am now. I tried to imagine myself in two years, ready to settle down and buy the house I’d still be living in almost 30 years later.
It seemed ridiculous. On a practical level, there’s no way I could afford to buy a house anytime soon. More importantly, I wouldn’t want to. I’m not sure where I’ll be living in two years, or what kind of job I’ll have. And I don’t think I’ll be ready to settle down and stay in one place.
So this is probably the generation gap that divides my friends and me from our parents. When our parents were our age, they’d gotten their education, chosen a career, and were starting to settle into responsible adult lives.
My friends and I – “Generation Y” – still aren’t sure what we want to do with our lives. Whatever we end up doing, we want to make sure we’re happy doing it. We’d rather take risks first, try out different jobs, and move from one city to another until we find our favorite place. We’d rather spend our money on travel than put it in a savings account.
This casual attitude toward responsibility has caused some critics to call my generation “arrogant”, “impatient”, and “overprotected”. Some of these complaints have a point. As children we were encouraged to succeed in school, but also to have fun. We grew up in a world full of technological innovation: cellphones, the Internet, instant messaging, and video games.
Our parents looked to rise vertically(垂直的)--starting at the bottom of the ladder and slowly making their way to the top, on the same track, often for the same company. That doesn’t apply to my generation.
Because of that, it may take us longer than our parents to arrive at responsible, stable adulthood. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In our desire to find satisfaction, we will work harder, strive for ways to keep life interesting, and gain a broader set of experiences and knowledge than our parents’ generation did.When the author walked through her parents’ house, she _______.
| A．was frightened that she had no idea what she wanted from life |
| B．started to think about her own life |
| C．realized I should buy a house. |
| D．wondered why her parents had settled down early |
What is the main “generation gap” between the author and her friends and their parents according to the article?
| A．Their attitude toward high technology. |
| B．Their ways of making their way to the top. |
| C．Their attitude towards responsibility. |
| D．Their ways of gaining experience. |
Which of the following might the author agree with?
| A．It’s all right to try more before settling down. |
| B．It’s better to take adult responsibility earlier. |
| C．It involves too much effort to rise vertically. |
| D．It’s ridiculous to call her generation “arrogant”. |
What can we conclude from the article?
| A．The author is envious of her parents enjoying a big house at her age. |
| B．Growing up in a hi-tech world makes “Generation Y” feel insecure about relationships. |
| C．“Generation Y” people don’t want to grow up and love to be taken care of by their parents. |
| D．The author wrote this article so that others would be able to understand her generation better. |
What is the main theme of the article?
| A．The sudden realization of growing up. |
| B．A comparison between lifestyles of generations. |
| C．Criticisms of the young generation. |
| D．The factors that have changed the young generation. |
第三部分：阅读理解 (共两节，满分40分)
第一节（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
If you have a chance to go to Finland, you will probably be surprised to find how “foolish” the Finnish people are.
Take the taxi drivers for example. Taxis in Finland are mostly high-class Benz with a fare of two US dollars a kilometer. You can go anywhere i
n one, tell the driver to drop you at any place, say that you have some business to attend to, and then walk off without paying your fare. The driver would not show the least sign of anxiety.
The dining rooms in all big hotels not only serve their guests, but also serve outside diners. Hotel guests have their meals free, so they naturally go to the free dining rooms to have their meals. The most they would do to show their good faith is to wave their registration card to the waiter. With such a loose check, you can easily use any old registration card to take a couple of friends to dine free of charge.
The Finnish workers are paid by the hour. They are very much on their own as soon as they have agreed with the boss on the rate. From then on they just say how many hours they have worked and they will be paid accordingly.
With so many loopholes(漏洞) in everyday life, surely Finland must be a heaven to those who love to take “petty advantages”. But the strange thing is, all the taxi passengers would always come back to pay their fare after they have attended to their business; not a single outsider has ever been found in the free hotel dining rooms. And workers always give an honest account of the exact hours they put in. As the Finns always act on good faith in everything they do, living in such a society has turned everyone into a real “gentleman”.
In a society of such high moral practice, what need is there for people to be on guard against others?
56. While taking a taxi in Finland, a passenger __________.
A. can go anywhere without having to pay the driver
B. only pays two US dollars for a taxi ride
C. can never be turned down by the taxi driver wherever he wants to go
D. needs to provide good faith demonstration before leaving without paying
57．We can know from the passage that in Finland __________.
A. both hotel guests and outside diners are served food free of charge
B. big hotels provide meals for all kinds of diners
C. guests can enjoy free food once they stayed in the hotel
D. big hotels are mostly poorly managed
58. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Generally speaking, in Finland, workers can get more pay by working long hours.
B. The workers and their bosses will make an agreement in advance about the pay.
C. The workers are always honest with their working hours.
D. The bosses are too busy to check the working hours of their employees.
59. It can be concluded that _________.
A. Finnish people are really foolish in daily life
B. Finland has been a good place for cheats
C. the Finnish society is of very high moral level
D. all the Finns are rich and therefore honest
Having finished her homework, Ma Li wants some music for relaxation. As usual, she starts her computer and goes to Baidu.com to download music files. But this time she is surprised when an announcement about protecting songs’ copyright bursts onto the screen. The age of free music and movie downloads may have come to an end as Web companies like Baidu are accused of pirating copyright. Lawsuits（诉讼） have been filed against four websites offering free downloads. In September 2005, a Beijing court ordered Baidu to pay recording company Shanghai Push compensation(赔偿)for their losses. Baidu was also told to block the links to the pirated music on the website. This caused a heated discussion on Interact file sharing.
“Baidu’s defeat in the lawsuit shows it is not right to get copyrighted songs without paying. Downloaders may face lawsuits or fines,” said an official.
Like many teens, Huang Ruoru, an 18-year-old girl from Puning in Guangdong Province, doesn’t think that getting music from websites is wrong. She always shares her favourite songs downloaded from Baidu with her friends. When told about the lawsuit, she began to feel a little guilty about obtaining others’ work without paying.
However, other teenagers have different ideas. Wang Yafei, a Senior 2 girl from Jinan, Shandong Province pointed out that file sharing is a good way to promote pop singers. “If I download a song and really like it, I will buy the CD,” she said. “So what the recording companies really should concentrate on is improving their music, rather than pursuing file-sharers.”Which of the following best describes the passage?
| A．Downloading material can be illegal. | B．It’s good to get free music on the Internet. |
| C．Music on the Internet is of better quality. | D．Baidu is a popular web company. |
The four web companies were put to court because _________.
| A．they got copyrighted songs without paying |
| B．they downloaded copyrighted music for people |
| C．they offer free music on line |
| D．they make copyrighted files for free downloads |
How do some of the teenagers feel while downloading free music after the lawsuit?
| A．A bit guilty. | B．Awfully sorry. | C．A little sad. | D．Extremely angry. |
It can be inferred from the text that _________.
| A．Web companies are still ignoring the copyright laws. | |
| B．Teenagers haven’t got money to buy CDs. | |
| C．Teenagers are probably still downloading free music. |
D．Teenagers prefer CDs with copyright to pirated music. |
Schools across the country are turning green. So-called green schools are built from recycled and environmentally friendly materials. They are designed to use less energy than traditional school buildings. In the next few years, Southern California alone plans to open 150 green schools. Studies have shown that there are good reasons to go green, including good air quality that cuts down on asthma(哮喘)attacks and airborne germs that can cause illnesses. Students learn better in classrooms that have natural light and ideal temperatures. Green schools have lower energy bills. Go On, Get Green
Here’s how to save energy and help the environment.
Light Savers
Turn off the lights in a room when it is not in use. This bright idea can produce big savings on energy costs. Some schools use sensors that automatically shut off the lights when there is no motion in a room.
Heat Smart
Your school’s thermostat(温度调节器)should be set to 78℃in warm weather and 68℃in cooler weather. The temperature can be even farther from the comfort zone at night and on weekends, when no one is using the school building.
Reuse, Recycle
Reuse paper, cans, bottles and batteries. Use both sides of notebook paper. Carry a lunch box rather than a paper bag. Recycle whatever you can reuse.
Don’t Drip(滴水)
Leaky taps can waste large amounts of water. A small, steady flow can add up to hundreds of gallons a year. Report drips if you see them.
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Green Schools. | B．Reusing and Recycling. | C．Light Savers. | D．No Dripping. |
Some schools are called green schools because ______.
| A．they are built from new materials | B．they are painted green |
C．there are more trees in these schools | D．they are built from recycled materials |
All of the following are advantages of a green school EXCEPT __________.
| A．the air quality of the school is great |
B．the temperature is comfortable |
C．the school has lower energy bills than a traditional school |
D．it is more beautiful than a traditional school |
In a green school, students will ________.
| A．use both sides of their notebook paper | B．not use lights at all |
C．use paper bags to carry food | D．get sick more easily |
Banks view online banking as a powerful “value-added” tool to attract and keep new customers while helping to eliminate costly paper handling or teller（出纳员）interactions in an increasingly competitive banking environment .
Today , most large national banks , many local banks and credit unions offer some form of online banking , variously known as PC banking , home banking , electronic banking or Internet banking . Online banks are sometimes referred to as “brick-to-click” banks , both to tell them from “brick-to-mortar” banks that haven’t yet offered online banking , as well as from “virtual”（虚拟）banks that have no physical branches or tellers whatsoever .
The challenge（挑战）for the banking industry has been to design this new service channel in such a way that its customers will readily learn to use and trust it . Most of the large banks can now offer fully safe ,fully functional （功能的）online banking for free or for a small cost . As more banks succeed online and more customers use their sites , fully functional online banking will likely become as commonplace as automated teller machines (ATM).
Online banking has a lot of advantages . Unlike your corner bank , online banking sites never close; they’re at hand 24 hours a day , seven days a week , and they’re a mouse click away . If you’re out of state or even out of the country when a money problem appears , you can log on instantly to your online bank and take care of business . Online bank sites generally carry out and confirm （确认）deals at or quicker than ATM processing speeds . Many online banking sites now offer fashionable tools to help you manage all of your valuable items more effectively .The word “eliminate” in the first paragraph probably means “ ”.
| A．keep | B．remove | C．reduce | D．improve |
What is the challenge for the banking industry according to the text ?
| A．To make online banking attractive . | B．To open new services all over the world . |
| C．To offer online banking for free . | D．To take care of business 24 hours a day . |
From the text we can conclude that .
| A．“brick-to-click” banks are in fact another kind of physical banks |
| B．the function of a “brick-to-click” bank is as common as that of an ATM |
| C．a “ brick-to-mortar” bank is no better than a virtual one |
| D．customers can deal with their banking by a mouse click |
What would be the best title for this text ?
| A．Banking of Various Forms | B．Improvement of Banking Industry |
| C．Development of Online Banking | D．Functions of the “Brick-to-Click” Bank |
A lot of grown-ups worry that spending too much time playing video games isn’t good for a kid’s health. Now some doctors have noticed that kids who bring their hand-held game players to the hospital seem less worried about being there. These patients also seem to experience less pain when they are concentrating on a superhero adventure or a car race. At the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Maryland, young patients are finding hospital visits easier to deal with, thanks to a test program called the Hospital-based On-line Pediatric Environment (HOPE). Patients in HOPE have a life-threatening condition where their kidneys(肾脏)no longer filter(过滤)wastes from their blood. To get their blood cleaned, these kids must be hooked up to dialysis(透析) machines at the hospital three times a week, for at least three hours each time. HOPE allows kids to play online sports, racing, and adventure games with each other. Eventually they will be able to connect with kids in other hospitals who are suffering from the same problem. "We want to use the power of the Internet to bring together kids who feel that they are separated by their illness, and let them know that they are not alone," said Arun Mathews, the doctor who heads the program. He loves video games himself and got the idea to connect kids all over the country. Many researchers elsewhere are testing video game programs that might help young patients. For example, nine-year-old Ben Duskin of San Francisco, who was struggling with cancer helped to design a video game where players get rid of cancer cells. That’s all great news, because doctors already know that reducing pain and worry helps patients heal faster.
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Playing video games too much is bad for kids’health. |
B．Playing video games seems to be beneficial to young patients’ recovery. |
C．Doctors find that reducing pain helps patients recover faster. |
D．Doctors invent a game to help kids in hospitals. |
How long will it take a patient to get his blood cleaned in a week?
| A．About 3 hours. | B．About 6 hours. | C．About 9 hours. | D．About 21 hours. |
According to Arun Mathews, the main purpose of HOPE is to _________.
| A．encourage kids to play online games |
B．teach kids how to design video games |
C．help kids who are suffering from illness connect with each other |
D．make parents worry less about their kids playing video games too much |
Which of the following plays the most important role in the HOPE project?
| A．Music. | B．The Internet. | C．Novels. | D．Films. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Nine-year-old Ben Duskin, who has a cancer, is very brave and clever. |
B．Many parents want their children to play video games because it’s good for their health. |
C．Doctors are not sure whether reducing pain and worry can help the patients recover faster. |
D．HOPE allows kids to play online games only with the kids in the same hospital. |
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